Mobile subscribers in sub-Sahara Africa to pass 500 million by 2020 – Report

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Mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to surpass 500 million by the end of 2020.

According to a report launched on Tuesday by the GSM Association (GSMA), the number of unique mobile subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa will grow from 420 million at the end of 2016 to 535 million in 2020.

This, the association said, will make it the fastest growing region in the world over this period on mobile phones.

Mats Granryd, Director-General of the GSMA said: “sub-Saharan Africa will be a key engine of subscriber growth for the world’s mobile industry over the next few years as we connect millions of previously unconnected men, women and young people across the continent.

“Mobile is also offering sustainable solutions that address the lack of access to services such as health, education, electricity, clean water and financial services, which still affect large swathes of the population.”

It said subscriber growth was expected to be concentrated in large, underpenetrated markets such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

All these from the countries will together account for half of the 115 million new subscribers expected in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.

It said growth would also focus on currently under-represented segments such as the under-16 age group, which accounts for more than 40 per cent of the population in many countries; as well as women, who are currently 17 per cent less likely to have a mobile phone subscription than men.

According to GSMA, mobile is also a vital tool in delivering digital and financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Around 270 million people in the region now access the internet through mobile devices, while the number of registered mobile money accounts has reached 280 million,” it said.

It finds that mobile operators and others are also leveraging the ubiquity of mobile networks across the region to deliver services that are working towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs will focus on energy, water and sanitation, healthcare, education among others.

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